OR Royalties Inc. is a Montréal-based precious-metals royalty and streaming company that finances mines in exchange for a share of the metals they produce or revenues from those metals.
Jason, could you briefly tell us about your background, as well as the history of OR Royalties?
This is my 30th year in mining: I started in the field, returned to school for a finance and accounting MBA, spent 16 years in investment banking, then became CFO of Goldcorp before its merger with Newmont, the world’s largest gold producer. That path led me to our Montreal-based firm, founded just over ten years ago through a takeover-defense spin-out during Goldcorp’s hostile bid for the Canadian Malartic Mine in Québec.
That spin-out granted us a 5 % net-smelter return royalty on Malartic—a fantastic cornerstone asset. Since then we have grown to over 195 assets, 22 of them producing, and now rank fourth by market cap in the royalty-and-streaming space at roughly US $5.5 billion. To remove confusion with multiple Osisko spin-offs we rebranded as OR Royalties; “OR” means gold in French, befitting a Québec company.
Gold prices are at record highs, helped by central-bank buying. If that buying slows, what is your outlook for gold demand?
Over the next two to five years I see a very constructive tape for gold. The U.S. federal debt is about $37 trillion—which is estimated to be roughly 125 % of GDP, the highest since World War II—and deficits near $2 trillion a year. Coupled with sticky inflation and high rates, the most obvious political solution is to print more money, which devalues the dollar; gold traditionally moves inversely to dollar strength.
On top of that, de-dollarization trends and acute geopolitical strife—from Ukraine to the Middle East—push investors toward safe-haven assets. None of these problems have an easy fix, so both gold and silver should remain well supported through the near term.
Canadian Malartic is your flagship royalty. Are you seeking further diversification, and which new projects do you expect online soon?
Canadian Malartic remains a generational mine and still forms roughly 25 % of our net asset value, yet we have steadily diversified: today we hold 22 producing assets and over 195 in total. True to our geopolitical discipline, most additions have been—and will be—in Canada, the U.S. and Australia, with selected exposure to stable parts of South America.
Looking ahead five years, we expect three to four more mines to enter production under our royalties or streams—one each in the U.S. and Canada and another in Chile’s Antofagasta region. These investments are already funded, so no contingent capital is required. Inorganically, we continue to pursue base-metal and polymetallic projects that generate gold-and-silver by-products, aligning with the critical-minerals theme while preserving our precious-metal income.
OR Royalties is known for its safe jurisdictions profile. Given that royalty companies are shielded from many operating risks, why not take more geopolitical risk to capture higher returns?
Our job is risk management on behalf of shareholders, so we concentrate on tier-one jurisdictions—Canada, the U.S. and Australia—and only consider tier-two countries when the price fully compensates for added risk. If an asset lacks the security, rule of law or multi-mine backing we require, we simply price ourselves out and let someone else win the deal.
The sector is highly competitive and has virtually no barriers to entry: giants like Zijin and the Lundin family’s new vehicle are now chasing royalties. Discipline is therefore essential; we safeguard our brand by avoiding jurisdictions where nationalization or profit-stripping trends could jeopardize cash flow.
Won’t rising competition pressure royalty companies to take on more risk over time?
That is precisely the risk I worry about, yet we are in a “Goldilocks” position. Our existing portfolio is fully funded and set to grow cash flow about 40 % over the next five years, so we don’t need to chase marginal deals. We will continue to add assets only when the fit, price and jurisdiction make sense.
Meanwhile governments themselves are helping de-risk projects: the U.S. FAST-41 process, Canada’s proposed BC-5 framework and Australia’s new critical-minerals tax incentives all shorten permitting timelines. Those policies directly benefit projects in our pipeline—such as the Hermosa zinc-silver project in Arizona—so disciplined growth still delivers plenty of upside without stretching our risk tolerance.
You already hold two African assets. What is your strategy for that continent?
Africa is very much on our radar, but the exposure must be right-sized. Our producing position at Namdini in Ghana, for example, involved a US $35 million royalty investment which on a $7.7 billion Canadian market cap company is the —appropriate scale for the jurisdiction’s risk-return profile. We evaluate additional African opportunities case by case, leaning heavily on management teams with proven local track records.
With roughly US $1 billion in total liquidity—cash, an $850 million revolving credit facility and the pending sale of our equity stake in MAC Copper—we have the fire-power, but we would not commit a billion-dollar cheque to a single African project. Returns must clearly compensate for geopolitical and technical uncertainties.
Where would you like to see OR Royalties by the end of this decade?
Growth for its growths sake is not our goal. Since I became CEO almost two years ago, we have focused on per-share metrics, lifting both cash flow and net-asset value per share by roughly 40 – 50%. If we can double those figures by 2030 through disciplined capital deployment, we will have done an excellent job.
Scale does matter for market multiples, but we already sit in the sweet spot—large enough to matter, small enough that each transaction still moves the needle. Consolidation will likely continue across the sector; our aim is to stay independent, add smart royalties and streams, and finance the mines that supply the metals the world needs over the next decade.
